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by LadyToxicity
Summary: Aerynn has been ripped from the real world and taken to the Underdark. As a gamer in her own land, she's more than aware of Neverwinter and has previously played a bit of "Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark". How will her being in the Underdark affect the plot of the game she's played?


**Firstly, I'm not entirely sure what category this is meant to go under. **It will mention other places in Faerun like Baldur's Gate but the story and characters will be around NWN: HotU.

I'm still working on "Forgotten Poisons" but really wanted to start on this before I forgot. I'm aware this sort of thing has been done before but I kinda felt like writing about what I would personally do, and act, if I were in the game.

Reviews make my world go 'round, can't wait to hear what you think!

10/06/14 - Thank you DemeterAnna! It was pointed out to me that no-one really knows where Lith My'athar is so I've removed it's reference to being under the area of Neverwinter (:

* * *

The day had started like any other. Aerynn woke in the morning with severe pain in her right hand side, it stabbed at her just above the hip bone and pulsated down and into her pelvis. For a few moments she just lay there in her bed, breathing heavily, waiting for it to die down a bit to give her a small window of opportunity to hobble down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab some pain relief.

This had been an ongoing issue for as long as she could remember. At the age of sixteen Aerynn was rushed to the emergency rooms of her local hospital with a possible ruptured appendix. Once inside, the general surgeons found her appendix intact but decided to remove it any way to rule out any future diagnosis. Since the appendix was normal they had a quick look in her pelvis and found her right fallopian tube inflamed and scarred, a large adhesion attached to her colon, and the majority of her pelvis was inflamed. Further investigation led to the diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis - her bladder walls, when expanded, would crack and bleed enabling it's contents to leak out and cause furthur inflammation to her pelvis.

Since then she'd been to different doctors, had to change gynecologists multiple times, referred to a psychiatrist and psychologist, had smaller surgeries, and had been put on medication for severe anxiety and depression.

Today was a day like any other for Aerynn. Walking into the kitchen she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of one of the many glass doors that held valuable crystal glasses, plates, and alcohol. Her bleach blonde hair was a mess, the streaks of teal and pink she had spliced in various places were mangled in together, the neat plait she had put her hair in before going to sleep the night before had come undone. The makeup removers she used didn't do their job well for she woke up with black mascara smudged under her eyes almost every morning and her face was as oily as ever.

Aerynn sighed and reached for her small, white mortar and pestle and proceeded to crush her pain relief up ready to mix with water and swallow quickly. All though she'd been taking tablets of all sorts over the past few years she still couldn't take them without swishing them around in her mouth until it floated in amongst all the water at the right position to being hastily swallowed, and with the amount of pain she was in the last thing she wanted to do right now was have a mental screaming match with herself over which swish of the tablets would be the last one before she took them properly.

"Yuck," she coughed and washed the mortar and pestle out before putting it next to the sink to dry.

For the next fifteen to twenty minutes she would have to spend her time curled up on the couch waiting for the pain relief to kick in. During this time she'd have her phone out and scroll through Facebook or check out pretty items of clothing on Ebay. Once she was capable of moving, Aerynn got up and followed her daily routine of showering, eating lunch, and getting as much done as she could before she was bed ridden again.

Today she decided to stay home and finish off the artwork she had been commissioned from customers and was overdue to hand out. Her room was her workplace, her home, and her sanctuary. The walls were painted cottage green and she instantly felt connected to the world around her when she sat on her bed and soaked the colour in. She had bookshelves, a desk, and a beautiful dresser made of Golden Oak in her room along with two matching side tables, and a white wardrobe. Clothing littered her floor, she had to push items aside with her feet to give herself a path to her bed where she could grab her laptop and get to work.

She'd been working on her artwork for a few hours when the sun started to go down outside her window, and her room turned a bright orange which faded into a deep pink, and eventually took on a purple hue. The transition of colours happened so slowly that at first Aerynn didn't notice anything unusual until her bed began to shake ever so slightly.

"What the...," she took her headphones out of her ears and sat upright. Her bed began to shake harder, becoming more violent as the moments passed. Surely she was having a panic attack, or maybe she had fallen asleep and was simply lucid dreaming?

Aerynn pushed her laptop off of her lap, threw her legs over the side of the bed and scrambled over to her bag to grab her anti-anxiety medication. Before she took two steps forward a large, white portal appeared at the end of her bed and started to drag her belongings in. She watched, confused, as her laptop flew into the white light followed by some of her clothes. Her head was spinning. Frantically, she grabbed her phone but before she had time to call anyone there was a bright flash of light before the portal imploded.

Her legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor, her heart was pounding in her chest.

She raised her phone to her ear and gasped as the portal reemerged. Grabbing onto one of her side drawers she clung for dear life, praying to any and every god listening to help her and to make everything stop. With a final pull she lost her grip and slid across the floor. The portal had her.

* * *

Time stood still.

She knew who she was and what she looked like but it felt as if she was a billion tiny pieces floating through space itself. There were no colours, no sounds, no signs of life. She wasn't breathing or looking, not walking or feeling, not thinking or being, she just existed in an endless expanse of nothing.

Small hands materialized and she recognized her short, sausage like fingers, a beautiful blue ring adorned one of them. Her fingernails were the same light pink she remembered painting them a week ago, the tips were all but chipped off from daily wear and tear. Slowly, the rest of her body came together and time started to move.

The next few moments went by so quickly, flashes of white light surrounded her and before she knew it she was hauled through the air and onto a cold, hard, grey floor.

Aerynn was lying on her back when she heard footsteps rush toward her, a woman started to speak, alarm evident in her voice.

"Wait! Please, stand back, she means us no harm!"

The footsteps stopped and she could hear people murmering to each other. Her eyes fluttered open to reveal someone peering over her, their skin was dark and their eyes as bright as diamonds, long white strands of hair fell down and threatened to tickle Aerynn's cheeks.

Aerynn gasped and sat up, maneuvered her body around this unknown person, and slid back to put some distance between them. Now that she was further enough away to see she realised the person who was looking over her initially was a woman. The clothing she was wearing was unlike anything Aerynn had ever seen. The majority of her clothing was a deep black fabric with pieces of metal placed at where she assumed was where her boots, gloves, and pants tied up together.

The woman merely looked back at her, intrigue in her eyes.

"_Al'doer, rivvil_," a second woman, this one also having dark skin and white hair, came and stood next to the crouched figure in front of her, "we mean you no harm."

Rivvil?

Aerynn blinked. This woman was the one who spoke earlier saying she was going to cause no harm. Why she would want to harm anyone was beyond her, unless these _people _decided they wanted to harm her first.

The woman in all black stood, "Does she not speak, Mother Seer?"

"I believe she does, Nathyrra. The poor child has just been ripped through a portal, she's more than likely in shock," she frowned and took a step forward toward Aerynn with her hand outstretched, her long white dress flowed softly along the ground.

Aerynn tensed and pushed herself back even furthur until she hit something, something that growled behind her. Before she could register what she was looking at towering above her from over her shoulder she started to feel dizzy, her hands were sweaty, her heartbeat was picking up at a rapid pace, and her face was starting to go numb from hyperventilation.

She surveyed her surroundings and her body took over from her sudden need to flee from her situation, fighting was not an option. Her feet carried her to the large doors on the far side of the room, her hands pushed them open without her willing them to, and soon enough she was running aimlessly across dirt all the while passing confused and seemingly scared people who looked just like the two women in the building behind her.

Her feet took her as far as they could before she hit a cliff, to her left and right was dirt and more cliff, and she was not going back.

She was trapped.

"There's no need to do anything rash."

Aerynn spun around.

The woman she had first seen clad in black was standing a few meters away, her hands were up in surrender.

"Who...who are you?' Aerynn managed to choke out.

"My name is Nathyrra. I can't imagine what must be going through your mind right now but jumping isn't the answer."

"Jumping..?"

Nathyrra motioned behind Aerynn with her eyes. Without realising it Aerynn had positioned herself on the edge of the cliff, and quickly stepped away far enough so if she accidentally fell backward she wouldn't fall.

"I wasn't going to kill myself, if that's what you mean. I just...I didn't even know I was standing that close to the edge..."

"Well, I for one am glad you weren't planning on jumping. We need you."

"You need **me**?"

Nathyrra sighed, "There is much we must tell you, The Seer would like to speak with you. If you'll just follow me back-"

Aerynn took a step back, "No, I want to stay out here for a bit and calm down. That's if I don't wake up from this nightmare first," she crossed her arms and eyed off a small shelter to her right. Nathyrra must have been watching her.

"Fair enough. If you choose to use that shelter I will leave you be but I must stay close and keep an eye on you. I'm sorry but I have to do my job."

Aerynn nodded and slowly made her way over to the cloth shelter, keeping an eye on Nathyrra as she did so. When she got there she sat down cross-legged and placed her hands on her knees. Her back ached and her hair had come undone from it's neat plait again, a large piece of teal hair fell over her left eye.

The ground in front of her was made up of dirt and small rocks. She peered out behind the cloth and saw Nathyrra looking at her, a warm smile on her face. Aerynn marveled at her silky hair and bright silver eyes before realising what she was looking at. The woman smiling at her was a drow. A **drow**.  
_  
How is that possible? Drow aren't real!_

Her mind raced.

"Do you have a name?" Nathyrra called out to her.

"Aerynn," she whispered.

"That's an interesting name."

"You heard that?"

The woman chuckled, "Yes, my hearing is quite good. I am from a race of elves that live here in the Underdark. In our native tongue we call ourselves _Ilythiiri_, but in the common tongue we are known as-"

"Drow."

Nathyrra was taken back, her brows furrowed together as she slowly nodded.

"Yes...how do you know what we are, if you don't mind me asking? The Seer said you came from a world with no magic that only harboured humans and various animals."

"Um. I've played RPG games on my laptop that had Drow in them. In one of the games I cam across a Drow woman who was being...persecuted for being a Drow. One of the men in my party was a Knight and didn't appreciate it when I made the decision to save her. I guess he thought she was evil..I mean, she was. At least her character sheet said she was. Haven't played Baldur's Gate in a while, though."

Nathyrra gawked at her seemingly lost for words. After a time she stood and slowly made her way toward Aerynn, talking all the while.

"You've heard of Baldur's Gate?! And what's a laptop and why would you play games with peoples lives on it?" By now she was sitting mere meters from Aerynn, still stunned.

"Baldur's Gate is one of the places you can go in these games. I wasn't playing with the Drow's life, she's not real, nor is Baldur's Gate."

The Drow woman sitting in front of her cocked her eyebrow and stared at her intently.

"Baldur's Gate _is_ real. As is Neverwinter, Waterdeep, Luskan-"

Now it was Aerynn's turn to gawk.

"Did you say _Neverwinter_?" This wasn't possible. The games she had played that were created by other people couldn't possibly have a real life scenario. It just wasn't possible. "No, this has got to be a joke," Aerynn's eyes widened.

"My sister set you up for this, didn't she? Damned makeup artists! She did such a good job too!"

Nathyrra moved closer to Aerynn, "I don't understand. We should really get back to The Seer-"

Suddenly there was a pale hand on her cheek that quickly ran it's damp fingers along her skin, she had to hold back from breaking the newcomers arm. She watched as the woman with matted, strangely coloured hair, sat back in her previous position and happily inspected her fingers. Her smile dropped, though, when no dark makeup rubbed off of Nathyrra's face and onto her fingers.

Her right hand side started to flare up, the feeling of stabbing daggers above her hip caused her to cry out in pain.

Nathyrra was beside her in an instant.

"Aerynn, what's wrong? How do I- I'm going to get The Seer. Please stay here, I'm going to get help."

Time seemed to come to a halt again. By the time Nathyrra returned with The Seer it felt like she'd been crying in pain for eternity. She remembered the older Drow woman lay her hands over her side and chant something she couldn't understand, probably speaking in their native tongue, and a pale yellow light emanate from her fingers. A cool sensation ran over her and the pain slowly came to a halt.

"Nathyrra, Imloth, please help me get her back to the temple. Valen, there is no threat."

A body on each side of her helped her onto her feet, her body weight evenly distributed. They left the shelter and headed back to the building in which she came from.

She didn't want to go back. Not yet.


End file.
